Mending the Broken
by Maakason
Summary: "I wonder if he'll still love you even after I've had you."


**Disclaimer: If I owned The Vampire Diaries, there sure as hell wouldn't be a Dr. Fell in Mystic Falls right now **

* * *

><p>Alaric woke with a start.<p>

'Where the hell?' he thought groggily.

It was pitch dark, wherever he was. He knew he wasn't at his house, because he could feel the cool firmness of the stones that made up his prison pressing against his bare arms. Another great indicator was the realization that his hands were bound above by chains, forcing his arms over his head. As his eyes adjusted to the the dark cell, he tried to look around and figure out where exactly he was. There wasn't much to go off. The room was relatively small. There was no kind of furnishing- unless an extra set of chains on the wall opposite to him counted- and the only source of light came from a small rectangular window to his left that was way out of his reach. He sighed, trying to figure out who the hell could have possibly wanted to kidnap him. He didn't have to think long before he heard the tell tale creak of footsteps from the...ceiling?

Alaric looked up, confused. Yes. There was a little wooden door in the middle of the ceiling and it was being opened. By the sound of it, there was some sort of lock on it to keep intruders out.

'A trap door' Alaric thought absently.

Now he was really curious as to who had captured him. He watched as a shadowed figure jumped down through the opening of the door, landing gracefully on his feet a few yards from him. Alaric struggled to see who it was, but the stranger was consumed by the shadows.

"Your awake," the voice said. It sounded so...familiar. The figure started to move towards Alaric, coming into full view as the moonlight reflected his face.

"Klaus," Alaric nearly spit.

'Great. That's just great.' Alaric thought.

He'd been captured by none other than the hybrid that he'd been trying to kill for months now. The hybrid who had for a time possessed his body and killed countless innocent people-among them being his girlfriend.

"What do you want?" Alaric rasped out.

His mouth was dry and cracked from dissuse. "Why am i here? Where is here?"

Klaus smiled. "You're here because I'm trying to teach someone that It's not nice to take things from people. Especially from me."

'The coffins,' Alaric thought.

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why am _I_ here?" Alaric said getting angry.

Klaus narrowed his eyes.

"The Salvatore brothers have taken something very important from me. They need to be taken down a peg or two, and the best way to do that is to take something-or someone- important from them.

"Now, Stefan is too busy being an assshole and is steadliy losing anyone who's ever cared for him and anyone he cares about. Damon on the other hand-"

"Wait." Alaric interrupted.

"Let me see if I got this right. You brought me here to use as bait... for Damon?" Alaric burst into a fit of laughter, startling Klaus. The sound resonated through the cell, causing an echo.

When his laughter had subsided to snickers, Klaus spoke up, a little irritated.

"Well I'm glad your situation amuses you so much.

Alaric just looked at him, struggling not to crack up again.

"Look," he began, choking down giggles"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but you got the wrong guy. Why would Damon care if you had me?" he questioned.

Klaus was quiet, staring at Alaric for some time before he finally spoke.

"You may not realize it Mr. Saltzman, but Damon has a very deep...fondness of you. He likes you. I'm just using that to my advantage."

Alaric shook his head in disbelief. "Whatever you say Klaus." he shook his head again.

"Though at the rate you're going you may find one of your siblings in the Pacific once someone realizes I'm-"

Bam!

Alaric's taunting is cut short as the back of his head explodes in pain. He finds himself face to face with cold dark eyes, and tries to twist away, but is held down by the chains and Klaus' hand gripping at his hair.

"I don't think you realize just what you've gotten yourself into 'Ric" he said, Alaric's nickname tauntingly flowing from his lips. Blood started to trickle from the wound on the back of Alaric's head, down his neck, to his collar bone.

Klaus stared at the blood, a look of hunger and... something else in his eyes that made a shudder go through Alaric's frame. Klaus took notice of this.

"So you're finally starting to understand."

He followed the trail of blood back up to Alaric's neck with his tongue. He licked the shell of Alaric's ear.

"No one is going to find you down here unless I want them to. Until then, you're my little bitch."

...(Three weeks later)...

Damon drove frantically down the road, ignoring any and all speed limits. He had Stefan on the other end of his cell giving him directions on how to get to the house where they thought Alaric might be. Where they hoped he might be. He suddenly found himself blocked by traffic. Howling in frustration, he began banging on the steering wheel, nearly breaking it. The cars around him noticed and were a little hesitant about driving beside a lunatic. They didn't have to worry for long.

Damon hopped out of the car and started running for the cover of the woods. Once there, he began to run at vampire speed, urging Stefan to give him more directions. If this wasn't the right place, Damon didn't know what he'd do:

_Damon was sitting around doing nothing, wondering where the hell his favorite drinking buddy was. He'd been trying to call him but had been getting nothing but voicemails for the past week. He started pondering what he did to offend him _ this _time_._ He hadn't killed him in forever so that couldn't be it. He couldnt remember saying anything that may have offended him... for long. He was stumped._

_At that moment the bell rang. The bell rang? He got up, curious. The only people who came to his house were Alaric, Elena, Stefan, and the various people who tried to kill them on a daily basis. None of the people he listed ever knocked. He opened the door, expecting to see some brat selling cookies or something. Instead he found a thin envelope placed on his doormat. He took it inside and sat down on the couch before he lazily opened the envelope wth his nail. He quickly got interested when he realized what it was._

_Definitely not cookies._

_It was a note:_

_-It would be a shame to let a meal like this go to waste._

_Attached to the note was a picture. It was Alaric. Damon nearly had a heart attack when he saw how he looked. His face was bloody, a little puffed up in various places-Damon was pretty sure his one of his eyes was welded shut. His skin was covered in bruises. He looked like he was in excrusiating pain. His clothes...'oh god'. His clothes could barely be called that anymore at this point. They were torn to shreds, tattered and bloodstained, hanging off his beaten frame._

_Damon's shock quickly turned into a smouldering rage. He was seeing red; he couldn't think straight. That was how Stefan found him when he got home-seething with barely contained anger. Stefan pried the picture from his hands along with the note. When he finished, he looked at Damon. Damon didn't even seem to realize that Stefan was there._

_Despite his humanity being shut off, at the moment Stefan could feel a twinge of concern at the paralysis that his brother seemed to be in. He brought himself eye level with Damon, snapping his fingers in his brother's face, trying to get him to come to his senses._

_"Damon. Damon! Snap out of it."_

_Damon seemed to register that someone was in the room with him. He looked up, a crazed look in his eye, and for a second Stefan thought that Damon was going to attack him. He seemed to be contemplating it but for whatever reason didn't._

_"You started this." Damon stated more than accused._

_Stefan stood there, feeling just a bit quilty. It was true. Alaric had been taken because Klaus wanted his family back._

_"You're going to help me find him" Damon said softly._

_Stefan just nodded._

_"If you don't, or if I find out that he's dea-," Damon's face clouded over for a tenth of a second before he composed himself._

_"I'll kill you"_

Damon slowed to a stop in front of the door.

He'd found it.

After weeks of searching, they had recieved an 'anonymous' note at their home giving them directions to an abandoned house a few miles outside of Mystic Falls. Damon wasted no time in breaking down the door, giving a silent prayer of thanks that he didn't have to track down the owner to get him to invite him in.

"Alaric!" he yelled once he entered the house.

He frantically searched every room, up stairs and down, but couldn't find anything. He checked every room again for a second time. A fourth. He was just about to give up when he heard it. It was faint, but it was the unmistakable sound of someone calling his name. It sounded like Alaric.

"Ric!" He yelled again, relieved.

"Where are you?" He heard the weak whisper of his name again.

It was coming somewhere from the livingroom he sure of it. He just didn't know where. Impatient, and a little anxious to find his friend, he began to rip things apart, throwing furniture around the room looking for a sign of where Alaric might be. He finally found said sign as he started for the other side of the room and felt the moan and groan of hollowed out wood beneath his feet.

'A trap door'

He quickly peeled the rug from the floor, revealing that there was in fact a small wooden door there. It was padlocked-he guessed to keep humans out- but he had his own ways of dealing with that. He tore the lock from its latch without a thought and actually ripped the door from its hinges like it was merely a piece of paper from a spiral, letting it take flight in the air until gravity took hold and it landed with a thud on the floor a few feet behind him.

By the time it landed on the floor however, he was already jumping down into the hidden room. As soon as his feet hit the stone paved ground, he looked around until his eyes landed on a shadowed figure slumped against the wall.

'oh god'

It was Alaric. But he almost wished it wasn't.

His arms were chained to the wall over his head, his head slumped down. He was covered in blood from head to toe; too much blood to still be alive it seemed. Most of it was old and caked to his skin, but some of it was fresh, as if his wounds had been reopened. There were countless puncture marks all over his skin. Damon knew they were literally all over his skin because Alaric wasn't wearing any clothes. He looked ten times worse than he had in that picture. He was completely still. If it wasn't for the sound of his heart, Damon would've feared he was dead-and even his heart sounded a little irregular. Damon made his way towards him.

"Ric!"

He tore the chains off of the wall. They were the only things holding Alaric up so he almost immediately slumped over, and would've fallen had Damon had not been there to catch him. Damon wrapped an arm around his bare back and almost immediately Alaric snapped to attention, trying to fend him off.

"Get off of me!" Alaric yelled, desperately clawing at Damon's skin.

"Ric!"

Damon held him back. It wasn't hard. He was very weak from whatever had happened to him, and his feeble attampts to fight back weren't really doing much.

"Ric! Ric! It's me! Its Damon!"

As his words reached him, Alaric stopped resisting long enough to look at Damon.

"Damon?" he whispered.

"Yea," Damon smiled at him. "I finally found you."

Alaric stared at him for a second more, and then suddenly burst into tears.

"Thank god," he cried.

He buried his face in Damon's shirt, crying softly. Damon couldn't do anything but wrap his arms around him.

"What did he do to you?" He whispered fiercely.

But Alaric had already passed out again.

...

After Damon had managed to get Alaric out of the house, he called Stefan and told him where to find his abandoned car so that he could pick them up. Damon wrapped Alaric up in a blanket he had found in the house, as he waited for Stefan to arrive. When he did get there, Damon carefully deposited Alaric in the backseat. He thought about it for a second, and got into the backseat with Alaric, letting Stefan drive them back to the boarding house. When they got there, they took him to Damon's room to wash all the caked on dirt and blood off of him.

Alaric stirred a little in protest when they were washing him off, but Damon quickly soothed him into unconsciousness with a few reassuring words. Stefan made a quick trip to Alaric's house to grab him some clothes while Damon finished washing and drying him off. They got him dressed and tucked him into Damon's bed.

When Alaric came to, the first thing that registered was that he felt warmer and cleaner than he'd felt in weeks. He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He wasn't entirely sure but he thought he was in Damon's room. He slowly sat up, bracing himself on his elbow, rubbing his hand over his eyes as he closed them again.

"Your awake."

Alaric's eyes snapped open instantly. He looked around, certain he was going to see the monster that had been making his life hell for the last few weeks. Instead, to his relief, he found himself staring at none other than Damon Salvatore. The vampire in question made his way to Alaric slowly, as if he was afraid to get too close.

'In case I flip out.' he guessed.

"Hey" Damon said when he finally did get close enough to him.

"How long have I been here?" Alaric asked.

His voice sounded strange to him. Rough and hoarse.

'Probably from scre-'

_ "-scream for me Ric. I want to hear you scream."_

Alaric held his head in his hands.

'What the hell?' he thought.

Damon sat on the bed and tentatively touched his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked.

"Yea." Alaric managed a weak smile.

"You've been out for two days. You had me worried there for a bit."

Alaric could see that he meant it.

"-_Kiss me like you mean it-"_

Alaric shook his head. It happened again.

"How did you know where I was?" he questioned, trying to clear his head. Damon told him about the 'anonymous' note, and how they had tracked down the house.

_"-No one's going to find you until I want them to-"_

"I've already called the school."Damon added. "I compelled them to give you a 'sabbatical', so you can stay here for as long as you want."

Alaric nodded at this, suprised that Damon would do that for him, but grateful.

'He really does care,' Alaric thought sarcastically.

_"-I wonder if he'll still love you even after I've had you"-_

"Do you remember anything?" Damon asked.

Alaric quickly shook his head.

"All I remember is that one second I was walking to my car after grading papers late, and the next i was..." he trailed off. "I was there." he said finally.

Alaric didn't elaborate and Damon didn't ask him to. After having a glass of water, Alaric settled back into the bed. It had gotten dark outside so Damon prepared to turn the lights out and leave, but when he reached for the lamp Alaric stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Please don't" he whispered.

Damon relented and left the light on. He started to get up so that he could leave.

"Damon," Alaric's voice stopped him. "Could you...ah," an uneasy laugh. "Nevermind"

Damon knew what he was afraid to ask. He turned to look back at Alaric, who had lay down turned away from him. Damon walked back over to the bed and lay down next to him.

"Thanks." Alaric whispered.

Damon wrapped an arm around him. Alaric stiffened up a bit, but after some time relaxed against him and fell asleep.

...

_"-tell me you love me-"_

_"-you taste so good-"_

_"-mmmm...you're so tight Ric-"_

_Ric._

"Ric!"

Alaric woke up, eyes snapping open. He looked around. He was in Damon's room-not back at the cell. He was safe.

Damon was holding him down, looking at him with worried eyes.

"Sorry." Alaric said. "Nightmare."

"Yea no kiddin'. They could probably hear you screaming the next state over."

Alaric looked down. "Sorry."

Damon immediately felt bad. He touched Alaric on the shoulder.

"Hey. It's fine. You've been through a lot." Damon tried to shoot him a reassuring smile.

"Come on, lets go back to sleep."

Alaric hesitated. Damon looked at him questioning.

"I'm afraid." Alaric said at last. "I can't help but think that if I go to sleep I'll wake up back there. That I'll find out that _this_ is the dream."

Damon didn't know what to say.

Alaric lay down, his back turned to him. Damon lay beside him, putting an arm around him.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." His grip on Alaric tightened protectively. "But I swear that you'll never have to go through something like that again. I'll protect you."

He felt Alaric relax against him.

"I believe you."

...

It went on like this for a couple of weeks. After the first couple of days Alaric was able to get out of bed and go downstairs to eat. Damon had anticipated this and had grabbed some food at the store so Alaric would be able to make himself whatever. When it was dark, Alaric would go to sleep- but always with the lights on. Always with Damon beside him.

Sometimes that wasn't always enough. Alaric was still having random flickers about what had happened while he'd been taken captive. Every once and a while Alaric would have a nightmare and Damon would wake up to the sound of him screaming bloody murder. Once Damon could finally get him to wake up and realize he was okay, he'd always seem to collapse within himself, trembling. Damon would always hold on to him until the shaking subsided and he went back to sleep.

Damon didn't care how long it took. The next time he saw Klaus, he was going to kill him.

One day, Alaric suprised him and said that he wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere. While this shocked Damon, he quickly agreed and off they went to the Mystic Grill. Of course. They took a seat at the bar, Alaric sitting down with a little difficulty. He still had little scars and scabs painting his body. Damon had offered once to give him some of his blood to heal him up, but then Alaric had gotten that look in his eye that Damon knew he only had when he was thinking about what had happened in that room.

Alaric turned him down and Damon never asked again. Damon now studied Alaric as they sat down to have a drink. It was frustrating him to no end that Alaric still hadn't said anything about what had happened to him-and Damon knew Alaric remembered everything- but Damon didn't want to rush him.

After they had had something to eat-or at least Alaric did- they decided to take a walk in the park. Damon was worried that all the kids screaming and running around would affect Alaric, but he seemed fine. He was even smiling a little bit.

They walked for awhile; until the sun started to dissapear; until all the kids were gone, and then headed back for the car. Once they got home Alaric excused himself to take a shower, and Damon went to watch tv.

A few minutes later, Damon heard the water in the bathroom come on. It wasn't until the show he was watching had ended that he noticed that the shower had been running for almost half an hour. Damon made his way to the bathroom, cracking the door open a little bit.

"Hey Ric, you okay in there?" he called out casually.

He was trying to respect Alaric's privacy, but on the inside he was burning with concern that his friend might've hurt himself.

"Yea. Just ah...just having a little difficulty getting out."

Damon hesitated.

"Do you need some-"

"No." Alaric interupted sharply.

"Okay." Damon said a little stung.

Alaric sighed. He knew that Damon was just trying to help. He should just let him. He should just-

_"-Relax baby, I need you to relax-"_

Damon had just decided that he'd give him a couple of minutes- and if he wasn't out by then he'd come and get him- when Alaric sighed.

"Um...Damon?"

Damon eased the door open. Alaric was standing in the tub, towel wrapped securely around his waist, looking utterly embarrassed. Damon walked over and quickly scooped him up, walking towards the door. Alaric started to say that Damon didn't have to carry him all the way to his room, but something told him he'd just do it anyway, so he just leaned against him- his face in the crook of Damon's neck- and relaxed.

"Thanks." he said softly into Damon's ear.

Damon didn't say anything. They traveled the short distance from the bathroom down the hall to Damon's room. Without a word, Damon set Alaric down on the bed and walked out of the room to give him time to change.

Once he had closed the door behind him, Damon leaned against it trying to catch his breath. His skin burned and tingled in the places that had touched Alaric's bare skin. The whole time he had been carrying him it felt like an electric current was traveling through his body. When Alaric had whispered into his ear it was all Damon could do not to drop him.

God, he felt sick.

How could he do this to Alaric? Obviously something bad had happened to him while he was with Klaus, and here he was destroying the trust that Alaric had put in him. He knew he should probably sleep downstairs, but he also knew that Alaric probably wouldn't be able to sleep without him. So he waited a few more minutes-just in case- before walking in. He found himself face to face with deep brown eyes. Alaric-now wearing sweatpants and a shirt- jumped back, suprised.

"I was just about to get you," Alaric started. "I'm uh..." he trailed off looking down at the floor.

Damon couldn't help but think it was adorable.

"Im ready to go to sleep." he said at last.

Damon smiled at him.

"Yea. Ok."

As they lay there, Damon put an arm around Alaric like usual-out of habbit than anything else- and Alaric did something different. He turned around to face Damon and buried his face in Damon's shirt, skooting closer.

"Goodnight Damon," Alaric said before drifting to sleep.

Damon waited until he was positive Alaric was sleeping soundly before he brought his free hand up to Alaric's hair, stroking it. He bit his lip.

"Goodnight."  
>...<p>

When Damon woke up the next day, the first thing he noticed was that he felt _way_ too comfortable. The next thing he noticed was that somehow, over the course of the night, his legs had gotten tangled with Alaric's. He tried to untangle his legs without waking him up , but that didn't work out so great. The second he started moving, Alaric began to stir, opening his eyes slowly.

"Damon?"

Damon tried to find a way to make what he had to say less akward, but he couldn't think of anything.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up, It's just..." he trailed off guesturing to their legs.

Alaric looked down at their legs. When he looked back up he had a lazy smile on his face.

"Well I feel pretty comfortable so what's the problem?"

'huh?'

"Um, wha-mmmpfff" Damon was interrupted by Alaric pressing his lips to his.

Damon, a little confused, pulled back.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Alaric looked at him coyly pressing himself closer.

"What's wrong? Don't you want me Damon?"

Alaric leaned in to kiss him again and Damon let him this time. He allowed his hands to trail up and down Alaric's back, rolling them over so that he was on top. He kissed his way down Alaric's neck and Alaric hmmmed in approval.

"Damon," he moaned.

"Damon." Damon stopped.

Was that...Stefan?

"Damon. Damon wake up!" Damons eyes shot open as he woke with a start. It had been a dream. He was alone in the bed. Though he knew he should be relieved, he couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed.

He looked up to find Stefan staring down at him in amusment.

"You were making some pretty interesting noises. What exactly were you dreaming about?"

"What are you doing here?" Damon snapped, avoiding the question. He tried to position himself so that Stefan wouldn't see his ah..'little problem'

"You're supposed to be looking for Klaus."

Stefan raised his eyebrows.

"I'm taking a quick break." Stefan said finally. " I'll be out of here in a couple of weeks to start the search over."

Damon rubbed his eyes as Stefan made his way to the door.

"Oh and Damon?" Damon looked up at his little brother.

"What?" he was still feeling a little cranky.

"Are you gonna tell Alaric that he's starring in your wet dreams or should I?"

Downstairs Alaric, making breakfast, doesn't know what to make of it when he hears the sound of something breaking against the wall, and Stefan's booming laughter.

...

About a month had gone by and Alaric was just about healed up. He's wasn't as thin as he was when Damon had found him. He no longer had difficulty sitting down or getting out of the shower-much to Damon's dismay- though he sometimes walked with a limp. He still had nightmares, but not as much-which Damon was happy about. At this point, he really didn't even have to stay with Damon anymore, but neither of them had brought that to light. Alaric had once asked Damon if he ever got bored just sitting around the house with him all day.

It was true. The only time Damon went out was when Alaric wanted to take a walk or grab some food at the grocery store. Damon had thought about it, then finally said that he was actually having more fun there than he had had with anyone in a while. This caused Alaric to go red, which made Damon stare, leaving both of them staring at each other-until Stefan popped around the corner interrupting them, and that was the end of that.

As it so happened, right now they were taking one of their now frequent walks through the park. They had been walking and talking so long that they hadn't noticed the clouds darkening until a loud Boom! of thunder -followed by a downpour of rain-shattered the peace into a million pieces.

It scared the crap out of Damon, and he grabbed the first thing within reach. Alaric's hand. The electric feel of their hands touching was almost immediate, but Damon ignored it and led them through the rain to the car. Once they got inside, it really started to come down and they decided that the best thing to do was wait for it to calm down before they went anywhere. Only it didn't calm down. if anything, it got worse. When it became evident that the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon, Damon reclined his chair back, Alaric moved to the back seat, and they both tried to get comfortable. As the storm wore on though, the thunder grew louder, causing Damon to jump everytime it happened. Alaric was a little amused.

Who knew that the bad ass Damon salvatore was afraid of a little thunder? Since he couldn't sleep, Alaric figured he'd pass the time by giving Damon crap about it, but then he saw Damon's expression. There was a look of absolute pain on his face. Alaric nearly facepalmed. Of course. With his enhanced hearing, the thunder probably sounded ten times worse than it was for Alaric.

Without really thinking about it, he grabbed Damon by the shoulders and pulled him in the back with him. Damon allowed him to. Alaric pulled Damon close to him and tried to help him cover his ears. A crack of thunder pierced the air sharper than a bull whip. Damon wrapped his arms around Alaric's waist and Alaric held him even closer still.

"Please, try to distract me. Say something-anything."

Alaric stayed silent for a second, wondering what to say. He looked down at Damon, and seemed to make a decision in his mind.

"He raped me. A lot"

This pricked Damon's ears to attention. He looked up. Alaric was looking out the window. This was it. He had been waiting for weeks for Alaric to open up about what had happened.

"He fed from me a lot too." Alaric continued. "He'd make long cuts along my body to feed from, and then he'd give me enough of his blood to heal my wounds so-"

He broke off momentarily. "So he could 'start all over'-that's what he said. One day he wasn't able to get me the blood on time, and I actually died." Alaric smiled a humorless smile.

"Thank god for supernatural rings. They come in handy in a pinch."

Damon stayed silent. The thunder storm was completely forgotten.

"It was weird. Even through all that- the beating, the feeding- the raping."

Alaric finally looked at Damon.

"All I could think about was you. Dreaming that you'd somehow find me- that you'd save me."

Alaric smiled.

"And you did. I want you to know that I'll always be grateful for that."

Damon sat up and just looked at Alaric for a second. He swiped his thumb across Alaric's cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen while he'd been talking. He pulled Alaric into his arms.

"I just wish I'd been able to get there sooner."

They stayed like that for hours;until the storm subsided and they both, exhausted, drifted off into oblivion.

Early the next day they woke up tangled in each other-Damon was pretty sure he was awake this time. Alaric had been very concerned about Damon's ears.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked for the dozenth time.

He held Damon's face in his hands, inspecting him for any signs of hidden distress.

Damon smirked.

"Worried?"

Alaric rolled his eyes, and continued inspecting him for any sign of pain.

Damon grabbed Alaric's arms, effectively stilling them. He leaned into Alarc's hand, kissing the palm of it softly.

"I'm fine," he reassured him.

Alaric looked at him dumbly for a second, his face heating up.

"Okay."

...

After that things were...different. And at the same time, everything was the same. They still went on walks in the park-after checking the weather report first- only now, they walked closer, hands brushing every now and then. When they watched tv, they sat closer together, and more often than not they'd lean against each other and fall asleep there.

When they did actually sleep in the bed, it was nervewracking. Every touch still burned his skin, but Damon was learning not to feel so bad about it. Though having Alaric right there so close to him was definitely driving him insane. It was getting to the point where he had to physically restrain himself from jumping the poor history teacher.

One night, after getting drunk, they were giggling their way up the stairs to Damon's room. Alaric flopped down on the bed, a lazy smile gracing his features. Damon stared at him for a second, wondering how he'd react if he kissed him right then. He decided that even if Alaric wanted nothing to do with him, he'd always have at that one memory. So trying not to think about it too much, he went over to the bed, knelt down, and kissed him right on the lips. And Alaric did the funniest thing. He sighed out a long "finally!" and pulled Damon closer.

...(Six Months Later)...

Damon watched the rise and fall of Alaric's chest as he slept, hypnotized. Almost half a year had gone by, and Damon didn't think that he'd ever get used to this. This feeling of utter...content.

It was nice.

Alaric started to stir, and as he opened his eyes he smiled up at Damon.

"What are you looking at?" He grumbled sleepily.

Damon leaned down and kissed him softly.

"Something beautiful"

Alaric's face heated slightly. He sat up and tried to turn his face away so Damon wouldn't notice.

"I'm going to take a shower." He quickly got up and headed towards the bathroom.

Damon was just about to ask him if he wanted company, when his phone rang. He checked his caller id.

"I've got to take this. You go ahead. When you get out, we'll go out for a walk."

Alaric nodded, not hiding his disappointment that he'd be taking it alone. Damon smiled at him as he disappeared into the bathroom. Damon walked out of his room and headed for the kitchen. He answered the phone, his voice now serious.

"Did you find him?"

"What, months apart and I don't even get a 'I missed you'?"

"Stefan."

"'Sigh' Yeah. We got him. He's getting ah...associated with a few friends of mine as we speak."

"Good." Damon relaxed visibly.

"What do you want us to do with him after we're done with him? Besides kill him I mean.

At that moment Alaric walked in. There was still a bit of a limp in his walk sometimes. They weren't nearly as frequent, but every now and then he still had nightmares. Damon smiled at him.

"Use your imagination. And tell him I said hi."

He hung up. Alaric was reaching for a pan to make breakfast with. Damon got up behind him. He wrapped his arms around Alaric's waist, burying his face in his neck.

Alaric smiled.

"Who was that?"

"Stefan. He just called to say he'd bumped into an old friend of ours."

Alaric hmmmed as he started working at cooking some pancakes.

"Why don't you get dressed, and I'll finish this for you."

Alaric raised an eyebrow.

"Okay." He walked out of the room.

Damon watched him leave. Yes, Damon loved that content feeling he'd get when was with Alaric. He loved him. Which is why he'd do anything to protect him. To make sure he was never hurt like that again. He prepared to flip the pancake to let it cook on the other side. It flew into the air and landed back in the pan with a sizzle.

Perfect.

* * *

><p><strong>My longest story so far! (very proud of myself.) There may have been some ooc moments but you can tell me your opinion by hitting that little review thingy below. Thanks again to all you slash fans out there for reading my fic! Hope you enjoyed it.<strong>


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